Advertising change-receiving tray



Sept, 6, 1932- A. MIHALKA ET AL l,875,931

ADVERTISING CHANGE RECEIVING TRAY Filed Nov. 14, 1930 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 unirse STATES PATENT QF'FICE ARTHUR INIIHALKA AND ADALBERT WIESE, OF NEVYORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS 0F ONE;-

HALF T0 ARMAND E. LACKENBACH ADVERTISING CHANGE-RECEIVING TRAY Application led November 14, 1930. Serial No. 495,556.

Our invention relates to an advertising device in the form of a change-receiving tray for use on the count/er in front of the cashier in retail establishments, for instance, cigar stores, candy stores, restaurants, etc. The in-v vention more particularly comprises a change receiver including an advertisement bearing plate forming a part of such receiver, said advertisement being adapted to be illuminated when change is being returned to a customer by the cashier. Our impro-ved advertisement or sign displaying tray is, by rea'- son of its construction, adapted to have the advertising legend thereon illuminated upon the customers pressing upon the traysurface when removing a coin or coins placed thereon by the cashier. 'In this manner a conspicuous and attractive advertising legend appears illuminated before the customer which; is illuminated only so long as such customer coI1- tinues to exert a slight pressure on the surface of the tray in the course of 'removing the change therefrom. l

An object of our'invention is toprovide a change-receiving tray having a display sign associated therewith which becomes illuminated and therefore legible only when pressure'is exerted on the surface of the tray, i'. e., when the hand of a customer comes in contact with the surface of the tray for the purpose of removinga coin or coins therefrom. A more particular object of our invention is to maintain the change-receiving plate in a floating manner upon spring members supportingthe same so that the exertion of even an extremely light pressure upon anyportion` of the plate will depress the same a sufficient extent against the action of the supporting spring' members to bring about the necessary contact of such spring members to complete the electric circuit which illuminates the bulbv or plurality of bulbs positioned below'said plate and thus illuminate the sign and render the same legible. A still further object Vof our invention is to provide a construction of an advertising change plate which makes possible the ready removal of the series of plates comprising the sign portion of the device and its replacement by another sign element bearing a different legend. More specific objects of our'invention will appear from the description hereinafter.

A Vspecific embodiment of our invention is Fig. 3 is a plan view of our device with the cover and the plates containing the advertising legend removed, showing the disposition ofthe parts upon the base plate and the electric wiring employed therewith, f

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail through one of the clamping structures unity ing the different elements of our device, showing the manner of maintaining the plates containing the advertising legend in what may be called a lioating position upon the cas-4 ing, and i n l Fig. 5 is a detailed view, similar to Fig. 4, showing the depressed position of the tray relative to the casing. `f f Referring more particularly to the drawing, in which similar reference characters identify similar parts in the several views, 10 is av base plate of preferably circular hori` zontal section of suitable insulating material, such as hardened artificial resin, upon which is supported a metal casing 11 secured thereto at a plurality of points along its'circum# ference by means of angle irons 12, the horizontal base portions of which extend over the surface vof the base plate -10 and are se# cured thereto by means of screw bolts 18 running through said base plate. At the points along the` circumference of the base plate where the screw bolts 13 extend therethrough may be provided rubber lugs 14 having central apertures through which such screw bolts may Vbe passed. The vvertical portions ofthe angle irons 12 may be riveted to the casing 11' by spun rivets 15. l

Disposed :above and throughout the cir` cumference of the upper edge of the casing 11 is a'circular metal ii-ange element .16 riveted as by spun rivets 17 at portions of the circumference ofsaid casing, three of such rivets having been found by us to give a sattype of glass vusualyvith the more modern-type v isfactory structure, to an angular metals'tripv 18 the depending portion of which is contiguous through a portion of its length with a metal strip 19 having a liooked top portion 20 which is of the same configuration as the portion of casing 11 with which it is shown in abutting relation when the floating plates hereinafter to be described are at the top-most extent of their floating position, as yshown in Figa. Contiguous with a portion' of the other side of the angular metalV strip 18 is still another metal strip 21 having a fiange 22 erdending from vthe upper edge thereof inwardly of the casing 11. The metal strips 18, 19, and-21 are fastened togetherby a ,screw bolt 2.3 passingl through all three of said metal strips. The strips Y18 and 19 arefastened .together independently of 20 the strip 21 by the screw bolt 24.

29fare a plurality of springmembers 30, three being shownin theembodiment of. our

invention illustrated, the spring members being made of strips of metal given the crissy cross configuration shown in F ig. 2 terminating in depending portions 31, the points at which such depending portions jointhe body portionsv of such spring members serving as supporting surfaces for the plate 25. The resiliency of the spring elements Yis sulficiently greatto exert` apressure upwardly against. the glass plate 25 and to press the plate 26 superposed thereon against the flanged portion 16 so that theplates 25 and 26 and the sheet 27 therebetween are maintained by* saidV spring members atthe upper-r mostextent of their floating position.

At the points upon the base plate 10 immediately below ,the lower extremities lof the depending portions 31 ofthe spring momb'ers are provided metal contacts 32 secured to the base plate by means of screws 33. Mounted at suitable portions of the surface ofthe base plate 10 are two socket supportY ing members3t, 35 Yupon which are mounted electric sockets 36, 37 of any suitable construction having electric bulbs 38, 39 .screwed therein, '/The electric bulbs or light units 38, 39 may be of any suitable form although I we have found that the long, narrow type is best suited to our construction, taking up very little vertical space and diffusing their light over 'the greatest possible area. We have found also that the frostedY or glazed of lighting units diffuses the light emitted by the unit more uniformly and over a greater area than does the unglazed or unfrosted type of lighting unit.

The electric circuit necessary for the operation of our device is extremely simple and may -obviously admit of a variety of designs. A source of energy such as a batteryor electric outlet is connected 'by two insulated wiresiO,

41, by the `former to the socketsf36,37, and

'therefrom to the contacts 32, and by the lat- Y ter, to the screws 29. The screws 29 ofthe spring members -30 are connected by insulated wiring to each other to form the negative portionV of the circuit. The positive portion of the circuit is traced from the wire 40, through .the socket 3 6, lamp `38, to socket 37, lainpl .39, and contacts 32. rThe lamps are-thus 4connected in series. A detailed'` eXplanati on herein of the electric circuit is not. deemed i necessary since such circuit may lobviously .be varied withiny wide limits, the lcircuit illustrated being merely typicalof .any of a nun1 ber of-such circuits which maybe employed;

Thus, while. we have described three spring members rand two light .units as beingv provided, vit is to be understood that we consider it fto `.be within our invention -to provide a greater or lesser'numberV of .spring members and/or light units than .the number illustrated f in the drawing, so long as the advantages and objects of our invention areiobtained bysuch constructions. Y ,l l l .f Y'

Coming now .to la description of the operation of our device, the vplates 25 and 26, be-

tween which is positioned an .advertisement lbearing vstrip of paper Vor similar material, are supported upon the spring members 30 whichY normallyrpress said plates upwardly against the flange element 16.4 If new, adcoin is placed upon the top surface lof the plate 26 and thecustomer to. whom such coin is given as change, reaches for the coin'ujpon said plate and grasps the ysame-he will unconsciously exert a slight pressure .upon the plate in the course `4off, pickingup such coin from the plate surface. The slight pressure thus exk erted will depressthe plate26 :and therefore the pla-te 25 a-nd-.fw-ill compress thel spring members 30, bringing the depending portions il 3lfthereof into contact with the yContact plates 32and completing -theelectric circuit throughthe lightV units. The' light units will then become illuminated, lighting up the interior of the casingv and 'therefore'the-plates 25 and 26 whereupon the advertising legend mounted between said plates willbecome illuminated andflegibl'e through thefuppe'r-plate 26. The illumination of the light unitswill continue so long as.r the hand vvofthe-customer remainsY upon the fpla`tef26 Whichfserves `asthe change receiving tray, i. e. soilong as there 4is theV slightest pressure exert-'ed upon said plate.

The floating extentof the plates ,25, 26`

and the sheet contained therebetween, is lde-y fined by the distance between the ends of the lar metal strip 13 riveted thereto are lowered 1Q the same extent, by reason of their connection by screw 23 to the metal strip 21 depressed by the plates 25, 26. The extent to which the connected elements are depressed is hmitedby the abutment of the inner surface of the flange element 16 against the upper peripheral edge of the casing 11. Thus, a depression of the plates 25, 26 a greater amount than is necesy sary to bring the ends of the depending legs 31 of the spring members into contact with the contacts 32 isprevented so that a bending of the portion 31 and thereby a departure from its designed extent of movement by ex-S cessive pressure on the plate 26 is avoided. Similarly, the upper extent of the floating position of the plates 25, 26 is limited by the abutment of the hooked top portion 2O of the metal strip 19 against the inner surface of the casing 11.

Our new change tray is so designed, as will be apparent from an inspection of the drawing, that the exertion of pressure upon any portion of the upper surface of the plate 26 will cause one or more of the spring members 3() to be compressed and thereby cause'their respective depending portions 31 to come in contact with the surface of one or more of the contacts 32 completing the electric circuit through both of the lighting units 38 and 39. For reasons of facility in the manufacture of Vthe spring members 30, all of such spring members are illustrated as being of the sani-e configuration, although it is obvious that any two of said spring members may be made integral obviating the necessity of using a connecting' strip l2 to join the two spring members wnich are disposed in alignment as shown in the upper portion of Fig. 3. lt is also obvious that while we have described three such spring members as giving the most preferred construction of the device, a lesser or greater number of such spring members distributed over the surface of the base plate 10 and suitably connected lby the necessary electric wiring may be used. Also, while we have described and illustrated two electric light units in connection with our device it is obvious that one of such or similar light units may be suilicient, designing the electric circuit to suit the particular' arrangement and number of spring members and light units used.

In order to dissipate any heat which may be developed by the light units 38 and 39 `and in order to provide the necessary ventilation of the interior of the casing of our device,

we provide a number of apertures L13 in the base plate 10 and a series of apertures'll distributed throughout the circumference of the casing 11.

In order to remove the plates 25, 26 and the advertisement bearing sheet positioned therebetween from our device in order to change the legend appearing 4on said sheet or to substitute another sheet bearing a dif'- ferentlegend therefor, it is only necessary to unscrew'the screw bolts 13,.,remove the casing ll'from the base plate and/then toremove the screws 23. The angular strips' 21 supporting the plates 25 andy 26 on the inwardly extending anges 220i said strips, will then be capable of removal to permit the sliding ofV the plates 25., 26 downwardly pastV the screws 24C and out of the interior of the casing- 11.l l.When thedesired change in the sheet 27 has been made, suoli sheet and the plates 25, 26.1nay be replaced intotheir original positions against the peripheral edge of the flange element 16, the angular strips 21 being replaced and secured to the strips 18 by the replacement ofthe screws. 23.

lVhile we have described a specific embodiment of our invention it is obvious that vario'us modications. therein and inthe arrangement of the parts may be made without departingV irom the spirit of our invention.

`We claim: 4 f

1, In a device of the character described, the combination of a base, acasing, a 'change receiving plate, an advertising legend bearingelement associated therewith, a. lighting unit secured tosaid base, a plurality of spring members mounted on said base at' different points under the casing so that they are in a position tosupp'ort all parts of it and resiliently supporting said cha-nge receiving plate, and forming the sole support therefor and an electric circuit including said spring niem-v bers andvsaid lighting unit.

21. In a device of the character described, thefooinbination of a base, a casing, a change receiving plate, an advertising legend bearing element associated therewith, a lighting unit secured to said base, a `plurality of electric 'contacts on said base, a plurality of springV members mounted on said base'at differentpointsunder the casing so that they are in a position to support all parts lof it and serving as a sole means of resiliently supporting said change receiving plate, and an electric` circuit including said spring members, said contacts and said lighting unit. Y

3. In 'a device Vof' the character described, the combination of a base, a casing, a change receiving plate, an` advertising legend bearing element associated therewith, a lighting unit secured to said base, a plurality ofielectric 'contacts on' said i base, a plurality of spring members mounted on said base at different points underrthe casing'fso that they are in a position to support all parts of'it and serving as a sole means of resiliently supporting said. change receiving plate, said spring members having depending leg portions terminating immediately above and at a distance from said contactsand an electric circuit including said spring members, said contacts and said lighting unit.

4. Ina device of the character described,

.the combination of a base plate, a change tra 1 an advertisement bearing element associated therewith, a plurality of spring memi spring members beingV adapted, upon pres. Ysure exerted upon the upper surface of said l change tray whereby said tray is depressed,

to contact with the contacts on said base plate, to complete the electric circuit through said 1 lighting unit, lighting the'same to illuminate the change'tray and render the advertising legend legible therethrough. l

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a base plate, a casing removably mounted thereon, a change tray, an

advertisement bearing element associated therewith, a plurality of spring members secured to the surface of said base plate at different points under the casing so that they are in a position to support all parts of it,`

and having depending portions normally disposed to. have their ends immediately above and at a distance from the surface of said base plate, said spring members serving as a sole means of supportingsaid change tray in a floating position for movement vertically, an electric circuit, an illuminating unit upon said base plate, a plurality of contacts on said base plate, said spring members being adapted, upon pressure exerted upon the upper surface of said change tray whereby said tray is depressed, to contact with the contacts on said base plate, to complete the electric circuit through said lighting unit, lighting ythe same to illuminate the change tray and render the advertising legend legible therethrough.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a base plate, a casing reif movably mounted thereon, a change tray, an

n advertisement bearing element associated therewith, a plurality of spring members secured to thesurface of said base plate at different points under the casing so that they are in a position to support all parts of it, and having depending portions normally disposed to have their ends immediately above and at a distance :trom the surface of said base plate, said spring members serving as a sole means ofsupporting said change trayin a lucent glass plate.

Heating position for movement vertically within limits defined by a portion of said cas-` ing, an electric circuit, an illuminating unit upon said base plate, a plurality of contacts on said base plate, said spring members being adapted, upon pressure exerted upon the upper surface of said change tray whereby said tray is depressed, vto contact with the contacts on said base plate, to complete the electric circuit through said lighting unit, lighting the same to illuminate the change tray and rend-er the advertising legend legible therethrough. Y y

7. In a device of the character described, the combination claimed in. claim l in which thev change receiving plate is removably mounted within the casingto facilitate the ready interchange of the advertisement bearing element. l

8. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the change receiving plate comprises a trans- ARTHUR MIHALKA. ADALBERT wrEsE. 

